Lost Time
by RootBeer Eyes
Summary: Years after the 100 Year War, our heroes find themselves in new and unfamiliar territory: parenthood, marriage, and unsuspected love. Fighting back unresolved emotions, many changes have undergone the group. How will they cope?


Chapter One

She stood in the doorway, leaning her volptuous frame against it. The only thing she wore was a sheer wrap around her waist, and her pearls.

She always had her pearls.

"You look beautiful, Airi." Sokka's voice was soft and almost inaudible. She smiled, brushing some hair out of her face, exposing one of her breasts. Sokka blushed and looked away. Airi giggled, walking toward where he lay, and straddled him.  
"Sokka, I love you. Did you know?" Her accent was still thick, even after so many months Katara had spent teaching her the new language. But Sokka didn't care, he thought it was cute and added to her appeal.  
"Yes, Airi, I know. I love you, too." He kissed her, Airi leaning gently into him, caressing his hair.

The two of them shared love, in its most exquisite and envieble form, unknowing to the visitor that stood just outside the walls.

Toph could hear everything. They were being quiet, and anyone else wouldn't have heard; but she could. She could have heard it at the market across the field and woods. She swallowed down a lump in her throat, trying hard not to let herself cry. But it was hard, all the memories that rushed back to her, all the sweet, sweet moments the two of them shared. They had never made love, but they may as well have. It had been eight months since Sokka had called it off, six months since they found Airi being attacked in an alleyway in Ba Sing Se.  
She felt arms snake tightly around her waist, startling her. "It's unusual that I can sneak up on you, Toph." Zuko chuckled. The sound of his voice always calmed her down. She didn't love him as much as Sokka, yet, but she almost did and he was the only thing that could make her feel better when she felt low. She sniffled, and forced a smile.  
"Zuko," she had to swallow that lump again, "I think we should visit Katara. I receieved a letter from my parents, they will be arriving tomorrow. I should get my dress so they can see."  
"Of course!" Zuko picked her tiny frame up and spun her in a circle, then kissed her. "I want to make the best first impression I can. But we should probably leave now, or it'll be dark before we get back." And then, a loud groan, from what Toph knew was Sokka. His heart rate had increased greatly. She looked away from the hut. "Was that... Is that Sokka and Airi?!" Zuko laughed quietly. "I can't believe it, that old dog, him! Well, they will be married soon enough, I suppose." He put Toph down and grasped her hand.  
"Where's Masa?" Toph noticed the lack of toddler by his side. She was use to the little bender burning her heels all the time, it was unusual for him to be missing.  
"Masa is with his grandmother and Uncle Tom-Tom today." He tousled Toph's hair. "They wanted to spend some time with him before the wedding."

Katara waddled carefully down the stone steps, trying to balance a basket of fruit atop her head, her large belly, and two rambunctious children. She often wondered why she hadn't stopped after Kya, as she had always been a handful; Bumi wasn't a bender like Kya, but he was still very hyperactive. The two kept each other company for the most part, but as her due date rapidly neared, she prayed that this one would be calm- and the last one. She also prayed that Aang had returned with her groceries from the market already, or else she would have to kill him.

"Unky Zu-Zu!" Kya's shrill voice brought Katara out of her woeful thoughts and into reality. Zuko and Toph had just arrived at her home. _Great_.  
"Hey guys." Zuko met her halfway, taking her basket of fruit for her. "To what do I owe this visit?"  
"Toph's parents are arriving tomorrow, and I would like to make a good first impression by showing them the dress I bought her. Is it ready?" Katara nodded. Hemming the dress had been a lot of work, seeing as to how short Toph was, but she had successfully finished it just days before.  
"Yes, it is. Come on in." She led the way inside, into a living quarter completely disarrayed by toys and clothes. "Please excuse the mess. It's just easier if I don't pick up after them until they've gone to sleep." Zuko nodded, telling a story about Masa getting into mud after a heavy rain one day.  
"The mud was so clumped in his hair, Toph almost couldn't get it out!" Katara gave her children some fruit slices and went to her cabinet. Opening it, she pulled out the white tunic dress, in all it's simplicity, it was perfectly Toph. Katara had picked it herself, with Toph's decision upon fabric. "I don't want to look all frilly, like a poodle-monkey." She scoffed the day they had went out. That was right as Katara was starting to show. Those were the better days. After much promising to no frills and lace, Toph made a purchase and went home happily, despite the excess length.  
"Oh, Toph, it looks perfect for you. I can't wait. Only three more days." Zuko was very eager, so much so that it seemed very out-of-the-normal for Katara. But ever since Mai died, he hadn't quite been the same.  
"Thank you so much Katara. I could never repay you for this." She held the cloth to her face, feeling every stitch of the supple fabric.  
Katara waved it off. "Just promise you'll babysit sometime, after the baby gets here. I'm not sure I could handle all three at once." She took a seat on an overstuffed cushion, kicking her shoes off. "Ahh, that feels better."  
"Thank you again, Katara. We'll babysit as often as you'd like." Toph called as they headed ou the door. But not before Zuko kissed Kya on the head and hugged Bumi.

Airi had falled asleep, her head on his chest. Sokka felt so comfortable, so _right _with Airi. She was beautiful, and amazing, and he wouldn't trade even being back with Suki for her. Airi was just everything he had ever wanted in a girl.  
He kissed her forehead and wriggled out from underneath her. He loved her, but he was hungry, and needed to raid his pantry. After finding some snacks, he returned to the bed, where Airi had successfully managed to cocoon herself within the sheets. He smiled to himself, slowly unwrapping her from betwixt the sheets, and laying down next to her underneath him. The light was slowly fading into dark, and his eyes grew heavy. But Airi's rolling over stirred him awake again. He was looking at the back of her head, her black hair kinked and knotted, her pearls on the floor on the other side. Sleeping was the only time she took those things off. He was admiring the dramatic curve of her back and hips, when suddenly he noticed it: scars. Scars all over her back, criss-crossing, like an uncoordinated design. He wondered who had done this to her; she had told him before about her time spent in a dungeon underneath Ba Sing Se, held captive with about two dozen others for the whipping pleasure of sick residents while Long Feng held reign. She hadn't gone into intense detail, but he had assumed nothing had conspired more than a few intense bruises.

He had definitely never imagined _this. _

His fingers lightly traced some of the scars, following them up and down the length of her spine; he wondered what all she could have left out. Mindlessly tracing them, he let his thoughts linger to the far edges of his wildest imaginiations.  
"NO!" Her scream startled him. He jumped to an upright position, her hand holding his arm so tightly, her nails cut through his skin. "STOP IT! PlEASE!" Her body jerked and thrashed.  
"Airi, Airi, wake up. It's me, Sokka. Airi!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her a bit, finally waking her. Her eyes opened, scared, and she realized who she was with. Her grip loosened and she let Sokka hold her.  
"Sokka, I. . ." She burst into tears, throwing herself into his chest. He cradled her, rubbing her back gently.  
"It's okay, Airi. I'm here. I've got you." She sobbed until she fell asleep, Sokka still holding her tightly, until her body went completely limp and he lay her down. This, more than anything, made him want to know what had happened those two years.


End file.
